Methods of Making Lace Garments, and Systems, Software and Apparatuses for Performing Same, and Garments Made Thereby

ABSTRACT

A method of making a garment that includes forming a patterned precursor in a lace web. Depending on the nature of the garment, the patterned precursor can be a partial patterned precursor or a fully patterned precursor. When the garment includes a non-lace portion, the partial patterned precursor is joined with one or more non-lace components. When the garment is all lace, portions of the fully patterned precursor can be joined with one another to form the entire garment. A lace web containing multiple patterned precursors can be produced using a programmable lace-making machine that is programmed to create the patterned precursors in the lace web.

RELATED APPLICATION DATA

This application claims the benefit of priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/603,470, filed on Feb. 27, 2012, and titled “METHODS OF MAKING LACE GARMENTS, AND SYSTEMS, SOFTWARE, AND APPARATUSES FOR PERFORMING SAME, AND GARMENTS MADE THEREBY,” which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to the field of garment making. In particular, the present invention is directed to methods of making lace garments, and systems, software, and apparatuses for performing same, and garments made thereby.

BACKGROUND

Various garments, such as women's underwear, comes in a variety of materials and configurations and combinations thereof. Lace has been a popular material in the manufacture of underwear, whether as a base material or as a finished edge material on a base of another fabric.

The traditional manufacture of underwear containing lace can experience the following shortcomings: (i) the use of lace to finish a base material can cause uncomfortable and/or unsightly digging into a person's thighs or waist when even one of the lace material, the thread and stitching, or base material has slightly different elasticity, and (ii) the lace has meaningful design limitations given its manufacture in a typical series of parallel strips with repeating patterns. As a result of typical manufacturing of lace in a series of linear, generally parallel strips each with repeating patterns along its length, the shape of any undergarment (such as briefs, panties, thongs or shorts, all of which involve material encircling the waist which then connects between the person's legs) made from linear strips of material must necessarily contain a number of seams, each of which impacts the design of the garment and, to the extent the seams, can add to the phenomenon of visible panty lines and/or discomfort from the wearer feeling the seams.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

In one implementation, the present disclosure is directed to a method of making a garment. The method includes forming a lace web that includes a patterned precursor to a garment, separating the patterned precursor from the web to create a separated patterned precursor, and utilizing the patterned precursor to create the garment.

In another implementation, the present disclosure is directed to a garment. The garment includes a lace portion formed as a patterned precursor in a lace web, the patterned precursor shaped to contour to a portion of a wearer's body.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For the purpose of illustrating the invention, the drawings show aspects of one or more embodiments of the invention. However, it should be understood that the present invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown in the drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a face view of conventional lace strips in a unitary web using conventional lace fabricating equipment, showing the lace strips prior to them being separated from one another;

FIG. 2 is a face view of a lace web made in accordance with the present invention, showing the web as containing a plurality of fully patterned precursors to corresponding-respective finished garments, here, underwear thongs;

FIG. 3 is an elevational perspective front view of one of the fully patterned precursors of FIG. 2, showing the precursor's relation to a human wearer when the corresponding thong is finished;

FIG. 4 is an elevational perspective back view of the fully patterned precursor of FIG. 3, showing the precursor's relation to a human wearer when the thong is finished;

FIG. 5 is a high-level schematic diagram of an exemplary system for making the lace web of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a partial-lace garment prior to finishing, showing the garment as having a lace portion and a non-lace portion;

FIG. 7 is lateral front perspective view of the partial-lace garment of FIG. 6 being worn;

FIG. 8 is a lateral rear perspective view of the partial-lace garment of FIGS. 6 and 7 being worn;

FIG. 9 is a face view of a lace web made in accordance with the present invention, showing the web as containing a plurality of fully patterned precursors, each corresponding to the lace portion of the partial lace garment of FIGS. 6 to 8; and

FIG. 10 is a high-level block diagram illustrating a computing system that can be used to implement any one or more aspects of a method of making fully patterned precursors of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Lace underwear and other garments made in accordance with concepts disclosed herein are unique because their construction incorporates a new method of making an entire pattern or a shaped portion of a garment, such as underwear, on a web of lace, thereby minimizing the number of seams and allowing a complete departure from the typical design constraint of building such garments piecemeal using strips or pieces of lace connected to a variety of potential material. Importantly, the shape of the garment, or shaped portion thereof, is built into the lace web of lace as a fully patterned precursor to the garment. As used herein and in the appended claims, the term “fully patterned precursor,” and like terms, mean that the piece of lacing that is shaped so that the final finished garment is made by simply joining portions of the precursor to one another. This minimizes the number of seams since no other fabric pieces are needed to be attached to form the basic shape of the garment. And the garment can be designed with a finished edge which will not fray or unravel so that the same garment that can be designed with the minimal possible seams will also not require any extra thread or lace or elastic to be attached to finish the garment, which seaming and finishing often result in user discomfort or problematic visible panty lines. In addition, as used herein and in the appended claims, the term “patterned precursor” as it relates to a garment means a portion of the garment (including the whole of a garment) includes an overall complex shape that is not simply rectilinear in the manner of conventional lace strips. FIG. 6 illustrates such a partial patterned precursor, in the form of lace portion 601, that is a portion of the garment 600 that is less than the whole garment. As is readily seen in FIG. 6, lace portion that has a generally V-shape that is not achievable with conventional techniques for making lace-containing garments.

In the case of garments made in accordance with the concepts disclosed herein, the entire area of the garment or shaped portion can be unique since the entire garment is the “unit of repeat” and the repeated element on the web of lace is many such garments. With this method, the front/back and right/left and top/bottom of the garment need not be symmetrical or even consistent in design. This allows specific design elements to be placed to the garment designer's specification and allows the garment to avoid the “fabric repeat” that characterizes strips of lace. The use of traditional strips of lace (typically ranging in width from just under an inch to a few inches, depending on the lace design) involves a frequently repeating pattern (often, but not necessarily with floral, paisley, or geometric elements) along the length of the strip of lace. With strips cut into multiple pieces then sewn together to form the garment, the repeating pattern of the lace strip greatly constrains design and appearance, often valued elements to the wearer. The virtually free-form nature of the garment-forming process of the present disclosure removes virtually all of such constraints.

FIG. 1 shows a conventional lace web 100 containing five lace strips 104 made by a conventional lace-making machine, such as various ones of the JACQUARDTRONIC® lace machines sold by Karl Mayer Textil-Maschinen-Fabrik GmbH, Obertshausen, Germany. To use lace strips 104, the strips are separated from one another by suitably cutting and trimming the threads 108 connecting the threads together. As can be readily seen in FIG. 1, the designs in the individual strips 104 are highly uniform and repetitive in nature. Arrows 101 indicate the direction of the web as it comes off of the lace machine. To make a garment (not shown), such as lace underwear, from lace strips 104, one or more of the strips are cut from lace web 100. The strips are cut into appropriate lengths that are then sewn together to create the finished garment. As those skilled in the art can fully appreciate, highly shaped garments such as underwear made from straight strips of material, such as lace strips 104, result in many compromises on construction and design.

FIG. 2 shows a lace web 200 made in accordance with the present invention. In this example, lace web 200 includes a plurality of fully patterned precursors 202 to a corresponding plurality of lace underwear thongs, an unfinished example 300 of which is illustrated with respect to a wearer 304 in each of FIGS. 3 and 4. As seen in each of FIGS. 3 and 4, thong 300 is unfinished in that the several free ends are not connected to other parts of the thong. However, the general shape of thong 300 can be readily envisioned from FIGS. 3 and 4. In FIG. 3, arrows 301 represent how the two lateral end tabs will wrap around a wearer 304. As can be readily envisioned from FIG. 4, those end tabs are then brought together and joined to one another, as generally indicated by arrows 401. In FIG. 3, arrow 302 represents how the bottom portion of fully patterned precursor 202 goes between the legs of wearer 304 and connects to the end tabs indicated in connection with arrows 301 and 401 of FIGS. 3 and 4, respectively. As can be readily envisioned from FIG. 4, the bottom portion is then joined to the end tabs, as generally indicated by arrow 402.

Referring again to FIG. 2, the portion of lace web 200 shown contains five full rows of four precursors 202 each and two partial rows of four precursors. Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate, however, that lace web 200 can be as long in the machine direction as the manufacturing equipment allows. Similarly, the width of lace web 200 in the cross-machine direction can be any width that the corresponding manufacturing equipment can accommodate.

In this example, all of fully patterned precursors 202 are for the same size thong, and the rows are staggered and overlapped with one another. As will be readily appreciated, because of the highly flexible nature of the process disclosed herein, a single lace web made in accordance with the present invention can include not only similar fully patterned precursors of differing sizes, but also fully patterned precursors for more than one type of garment. For example, fully patterned precursors for underwear briefs can be intermingled or otherwise contained on the same lace web as underwear thongs. Of course, many other possibilities abound.

In addition, because of the nature of fully patterned precursors 202, the lace design embodied in each precursor can be virtually any suitable design, include asymmetrical designs and designs customized to the shape of the finished garment and/or the location on the garment. Moreover, the lace design can be varied, for example, from precursor-to-precursor or from one group of precursors to another group of precursors, among other variations. In order to make a garment using any of fully-formed precursors 202, that precursor is separated from the other precursors within lace web 200, for example, by cutting and trimming the threads 203 that join the precursors together within the lace web.

FIG. 5 illustrates a system 500 suitable for creating lace web 200 and similar lace webs of the present disclosure. System 500 includes a loom 504 and a loom controller 508. Loom 504 is configured so that the loom can raise each warp thread independently of the other warp threads. Correspondingly, loom controller 508 is configured to execute one or more loom-control programs 512 each designed and configured to cause loom 504 to produce a web, such as web 200, containing at least one fully patterned precursor to a finished garment. As those skilled in the art will readily appreciate, in some embodiments of system 500 loom controller 508 can be mechanical, in which case each program 512 can comprise one or more punched cards or other physical medium(ia) encoded to control the movements of the warp threads in concert with the weft thread(s) to create the at least one fully patterned precursor in the web produced by loom 504. For example, relative to lace web 200 of FIG. 2, program 512 encoded on the punch card(s)/medium(ia) would be encoded so that loom 504 produces the overlapping rows of fully patterned precursors 202 that each contain four precursors.

As those skilled in the art will also readily appreciate, in other embodiments of system 500 loom controller 508 can be electronic, in which case each program 512 can comprises a set of one or more software instructions that cause loom controller 508 to control the movements of the warp threads in concert with the weft thread(s) to create the at least one fully patterned precursor in the web produced by loom 504. For example, relative to lace web 200 of FIG. 2, program 512 in the software would be encoded so that loom 504 produces the overlapping rows of fully patterned precursors 202 that each contain four precursors. Those skilled in the art will readily understand that when loom controller 508 is electronic, it can be embodied into an application specific controller, into a general purpose computer, as well as into a host of other types of electronic control schemes.

Whereas FIGS. 2 to 4 are directed to a garment, specifically thong 300, made entirely of the lace material as described above, FIGS. 6 to 9 illustrate that similar web-based lace-forming and patterning techniques can be used to make parts of garments that each include one or more non-lace components. FIGS. 6 to 8 illustrate such a partial-lace garment, here a thong 600 having a lace portion 601 and a non-lace portion 603. Lace portion 601 is made in same manner as the web-based process described above relative to thong 300 of FIG. 3. However, instead of the web-based lace precursor 900 (FIG. 9) for thong 600 being sized and configured to make the entire thong, it is sized and configured to be lace portion 601 (FIG. 6) of thong 600.

Referring briefly to FIG. 9, this figure shows a portion of a lace web 904 that contains multiple copies of lace precursor 900 for making multiple instantiation of thong 600 of FIG. 6. Lace precursors 900 can have any one or more of the unique attributes described above relative to fully patterned precursors 202 of FIG. 2, including having the shape of the final lace portion 601 and having virtually any desired lace pattern, whether symmetrical or not. Indeed, the lace patterns can even vary from one instantiation of precursor 900 to another on the same web 904. As with lace web 200 of FIG. 2, lace web 904 of FIG. 9 can be made using an appropriate lace-making system, such as system 500 of FIG. 5.

Returning to FIG. 6, non-lace portion 603 can be made of any suitable material, such as a stretch fabric or other type of fabric, which can be cut, processed, and/or finished as needed using conventional processes. Lace portion 601 and non-lace portion 603 can be joined together at a center seam 602 in any suitable manner, such as by sewing. Likewise, each pair of free ends 604 on lace and non-lace portions 601, 603 can be brought together and joined using any suitable techniques to form corresponding respective seams 700, 800 as seen in FIGS. 7 and 8, respectively. Of course, those skilled in the art will understand that thong 600 is merely one example of partial-lace garments that can be made using the unique lace precursors that can be made using the web-based systems and methods disclosed herein.

As those skilled in the art will readily appreciate, although the two explicit examples above are thong-style underwear, various aspects, techniques, and features disclosed herein can be used to make garments other than thong underwear. As a further example, techniques described above can be used to create a tank-top type garment in which one or more parts of the top (such as the front panel, an outer layer, etc.) or the entire top can be made from one or more lace precursors similar to the lace precursors described above. While this is just one more example, those skilled in the art will understand that the type of garment that can be made using aspects, techniques, and features is limited only be imagination.

It is to be noted that the aspects and embodiments described herein may be conveniently implemented using a programmable machines including hardware and special programming according to the teachings of the present specification, as will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the computer arts. Appropriate software coding for such programmable machines can readily be prepared by skilled programmers based on the teachings of the present disclosure, as will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the software arts.

Such software may be a computer program product that employs a machine-readable storage medium. A machine-readable storage medium may be any hardware medium that is capable of storing and/or encoding a sequence of instructions for execution by a machine (e.g., a computing device) and that causes the machine to perform any one of the methodologies and/or embodiments described herein. Examples of a machine-readable storage medium include, but are not limited to, a magnetic disk (e.g., a conventional floppy disk, a hard drive disk), an optical disk (e.g., a compact disk “CD”, such as a readable, writeable, and/or re-writable CD; a digital video disk “DVD”, such as a readable, writeable, and/or rewritable DVD), a magneto-optical disk, a read-only memory “ROM” device, a random access memory “RAM” device, a magnetic card, an optical card, a solid-state memory device (e.g., a flash memory), an EPROM, an EEPROM, and any combinations thereof. A machine-readable storage medium, as used herein, is intended to include a single medium as well as a collection of physically separate media, such as, for example, a collection of compact disks or one or more hard disk drives in combination with a computer memory. As used herein, a machine-readable storage medium does not include a signal.

Such software may also include information (e.g., data) carried as a data signal on a data carrier, such as a carrier wave. Such a data signal or carrier wave would not be considered a machine-readable storage medium. For example, machine-executable information may be included as a data-carrying signal embodied in a data carrier in which the signal encodes a sequence of instruction, or portion thereof, for execution by a machine (e.g., a computing device) and any related information (e.g., data structures and data) that causes the machine to perform any one of the methodologies and/or embodiments described herein.

Examples of a computing device include, but are not limited to, a programmable controller, a computer workstation, a terminal computer, a server computer, a handheld device (e.g., tablet computer, a personal digital assistant “PDA”, a mobile telephone, etc.), a web appliance, a network router, a network switch, a network bridge, any machine capable of executing a sequence of instructions that specify an action to be taken by that machine, and any combinations thereof.

FIG. 10 shows a diagrammatic representation of one exemplary embodiment of a computing system 1000, within which a set of instructions for causing one or more processors 1004 to perform any one or more of the functionalities, aspects, and/or methodologies of the present disclosure. It is also contemplated that multiple computing systems may be utilized to implement a specially configured set of instructions for performing any one or more of the functionalities, aspects, and/or methodologies of the present disclosure in a distributed computing matter.

Computing system 1000 can also include a memory 1008 that communicates with the one or more processors 1004, and with other components, for example, via a bus 1012. Bus 1012 may include any of several types of bus structures including, but not limited to, a memory bus, a memory controller, a peripheral bus, a local bus, and any combinations thereof, using any of a variety of bus architectures.

Memory 1008 may include various components (e.g., machine-readable storage media as defined above) including, but not limited to, a random access memory component (e.g., a static RAM “SRAM”, a dynamic RAM “DRAM”, etc.), a read only component, and any combinations thereof. In one example, a basic input/output system 1016 (BIOS), including basic routines that help to transfer information between elements within computing system 1000, such as during start-up, may be stored in memory 1008. Memory 1008 may also include (e.g., stored on one or more machine-readable hardware storage media) instructions (e.g., software) 1020 embodying any one or more of the aspects and/or methodologies of the present disclosure. In another example, memory 1008 may further include any number of program modules including, but not limited to, an operating system, one or more application programs, other program modules, program data, and any combinations thereof.

Computing system 1000 may also include a storage device 1024, such as, but not limited to, the machine readable storage medium described above. Storage device 1024 may be connected to bus 1012 by an appropriate interface (not shown). Example interfaces include, but are not limited to, SCSI, advanced technology attachment (ATA), serial ATA, universal serial bus (USB), IEEE 1394 (FIREWIRE), and any combinations thereof. In one example, storage device 1024 (or one or more components thereof) may be removably interfaced with computing system 1000 (e.g., via an external port connector (not shown)). Particularly, storage device 1024 and an associated machine-readable medium 1028 may provide nonvolatile and/or volatile storage of machine-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, and/or other data for computing system 1000. In one example, software instructions 1020 may reside, completely or partially, within machine-readable hardware storage medium 1028. In another example, software instructions 1020 may reside, completely or partially, within processors 1004.

Computing system 1000 may also include an input device 1032. In one example, a user of computing system 1000 may enter commands and/or other information into computing system 1000 via one or more input devices 1032. Examples of an input device 1032 include, but are not limited to, an alpha-numeric input device (e.g., a keyboard), a pointing device, a joystick, a gamepad, an audio input device (e.g., a microphone, a voice response system, etc.), a cursor control device (e.g., a mouse), a touchpad, an optical scanner, a video capture device (e.g., a still camera, a video camera), touch screen, and any combinations thereof. Input device(s) 1032 may be interfaced to bus 1012 via any of a variety of interfaces (not shown) including, but not limited to, a serial interface, a parallel interface, a game port, a USB interface, a FIREWIRE interface, a direct interface to bus 1012, and any combinations thereof. Input device(s) 1032 may include a touch screen interface that may be a part of or separate from display(s) 1036, discussed further below. Input device(s) 1032 may be utilized as a user selection device for selecting one or more graphical representations in a graphical interface as described above.

A user may also input commands and/or other information to computing system 1000 via storage device 1024 (e.g., a removable disk drive, a flash drive, etc.) and/or network interface device(s) 1040. A network interface device, such as any one of network interface device(s) 1040 may be utilized for connecting computing system 1000 to one or more of a variety of networks, such as network 1044, and one or more remote devices 1048 connected thereto. Examples of a network interface device include, but are not limited to, a network interface card (e.g., a mobile network interface card, a LAN card), a modem, and any combination thereof. Examples of a network include, but are not limited to, a wide area network (e.g., the Internet, an enterprise network), a local area network, a telephone network, a data network associated with a telephone/voice provider, a direct connection between two computing devices, and any combinations thereof. A network, such as network 1044, may employ a wired and/or a wireless mode of communication. In general, any network topology may be used. Information (e.g., data, software instructions 1020, etc.) may be communicated to and/or from computing system 1000 via network interface device(s) 1040.

Computing system 1000 may further include one or more video display adapter 1052 for communicating a displayable image to one or more display devices, such as display device(s) 1036. Examples of a display device include, but are not limited to, a liquid crystal display (LCD), a cathode ray tube (CRT), a plasma display, a light emitting diode (LED) display, and any combinations thereof. Display adapter(s) 1052 and display device(s) 1036 may be utilized in combination with processor(s) 1004 to provide a graphical representation of any suitable aspect of the present invention. In addition to a display device, computing system 1000 may include one or more other peripheral output devices including, but not limited to, an audio speaker, a printer, and any combinations thereof. Such peripheral output devices may be connected to bus 1012 via a peripheral interface 1056. Examples of a peripheral interface include, but are not limited to, a serial port, a USB connection, a FIREWIRE connection, a parallel connection, and any combinations thereof.

Exemplary embodiments have been disclosed above and illustrated in the accompanying drawings. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes, omissions and additions may be made to that which is specifically disclosed herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of making a garment, comprising: forming a lace web that includes a patterned precursor to a garment; separating the patterned precursor from the web to create a separated patterned precursor; and utilizing the patterned precursor to create the garment.
 2. A method according to claim 1, wherein: said forming includes forming a fully patterned precursor; said separating includes separating the fully patterned precursor to create a separated fully patterned precursor; and said utilizing includes joining portions of the separated fully patterned precursor to one another so as to form the garment.
 3. A method according to claim 2, wherein said forming includes forming a fully patterned precursor to an underwear garment, and said joining includes joining portions of the separated fully patterned precursor so as to form the underwear garment.
 4. A method according to claim 3, wherein said forming includes forming a fully patterned precursor to a full-lace thong, and said joining includes joining portions of the separated fully patterned precursor so as to form the full-lace thong.
 5. A method according to claim 4, wherein said forming includes forming a fully patterned precursor having a V-shape that includes an apex and a pair of ends, said joining including joining the apex to the pair of ends.
 6. A method according to claim 5, wherein said forming includes forming a fully patterned precursor having a pair of ends that include corresponding respective tabs, said joining including joining the apex to the tabs.
 7. A method according to claim 1, wherein: said forming includes forming a partial patterned and shaped precursor; said separating includes separating the partial patterned and shaped precursor to create a separated partial patterned precursor; and said utilizing includes joining portions of the separated partial patterned precursor to at least one non-lace component so as to form the garment.
 8. A method according to claim 7, wherein said forming includes forming a partial patterned precursor to an underwear garment, and said joining includes joining portions of the separated partial patterned precursor to a non-lace component so as to form the underwear garment.
 9. A method according to claim 8, wherein said forming includes forming a partial patterned precursor to a lace thong, and said joining includes joining portions of the separated partial patterned precursor to a non-lace component so as to form the full-lace thong.
 10. A method according to claim 9, further comprising forming a non-lace component that has a first apex and a first pair of ends, wherein said forming includes forming a partial patterned precursor having a second apex and a second pair of ends, said joining including joining the first and second apexes with one another and joining the first pair of ends with the second pair of ends.
 11. A method according to claim 10, wherein the first apex and the first pair of ends are part of a first V shape and the second apex and the second pair of ends are part of a second V-shape.
 12. A method according to claim 1, wherein said forming includes forming a lace web having a plurality of like patterned precursors, and said separating includes separating the plurality of like patterned precursors from one another.
 13. A method according to claim 12, wherein said forming includes forming a lace web having a plurality of like fully patterned precursors, and said separating includes separating the plurality of like fully patterned precursors from one another.
 14. A method according to claim 1, wherein patterned precursor has a shape and a lace pattern that is asymmetrical across the shape.
 15. A garment, comprising: a lace portion formed as a patterned precursor in a lace web, said patterned precursor shaped to contour to a portion of a wearer's body.
 16. A garment according to claim 15, wherein said lace portion forms substantially the entirety of the garment.
 17. A garment according to claim 16, wherein the garment is an undergarment.
 18. A garment according to claim 17, wherein said lace portion includes an apex and a pair of spaced ends, wherein said apex is joined to said pair of spaced ends.
 19. A garment according to claim 18, wherein said pair of spaced ends includes a corresponding respective pair of tabs, wherein said apex is joined to said pair of spaced ends.
 20. A garment according to claim 15, wherein said lace portion is joined with at least one non-lace portion.
 21. A garment according to claim 20, wherein the garment is an undergarment.
 22. A garment according to claim 21, wherein the at least one non-lace garment is a piece having a first apex and a first pair of spaced ends and said lace portion has a second apex and a second pair of spaced ends, said first and second apexes being joined to one another and said first pair of spaced ends being joined to said second pair of spaced ends. 